


Romeo and Romeo

by vetiverite



Series: Like a Damn Fool [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Daddy Kink, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub Play, Fee is the Boss of Kee and Kee Loves It, Lust, M/M, Night at the Theater, References to Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet References, Unrelated Fíli and Kíli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28264191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vetiverite/pseuds/vetiverite
Summary: Greenleaf & Arkenstein Circus may be taking on a new designer.  Tonight's Shakespeare performance serves as an audition, but Fee Lonesome and his new lover Kee are not paying a lick of attention to what's happening onstage.
Relationships: Fíli & Kíli (Tolkien), Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: Like a Damn Fool [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070573
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: GatheringFiKi - 12 Days Of Christmas 2020





	Romeo and Romeo

**Author's Note:**

> Fic for GatheringFiki's 12 Days 2020 Challenge, based on the following photoset:
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Character Notes: Arkenstein (AKA Big Man) is Thorin; Bill is Bilbo; Greenleaf is Thranduil; Junior (AKA Bud) is Legolas; Tori is Tauriel; Barry and Dwayne are Balin and Dwalin; Goosey is Gandalf; and of course Fee and Kee are Fili and Kili. 

_What the everloving hell?!_

Bill pats his spouse’s arm. _I suppose it’s meant to be avant-garde._

_A goddamn travesty is what it is_.

Suspended from ceiling wires in front of the proscenium arch, a great peaked awning floats over the stage apron like a gaudy cloud, tarted up with gold trim and tassels. Even worse, it’s made out of canvas striped white and lilac. _Lilac!_

_Jesus H. Christ,_ mutters Arkenstein, sliding as far down in his velvet seat as he can get. 

_We are only here for a look-see,_ Greenleaf whispers to his chagrined business partner. _Merely a taste of Junior’s big idea. I made it very clear to him that our coming tonight does not amount to a ‘Yes’._ He pauses, wrinkling his nose like a cat encountering a foul odor. _I mean,_ r _eally… LILAC._

_It’s inspired by the Belle Epoque cabaret aesthetic,_ Tori offers helpfully. Her theater arts degree qualifies her to chime in with authority. Also, she thinks Greenleaf Junior is hot as a fucking rivet.

_And dumb as a box of rocks,_ mutters Dwayne one row behind.

_I didn’t know Romeo and Juliet was set in a circus,_ Barry goads his brother.

_It ain’t. At least not in any production I’ve seen._ Dwayne should know, having spent eight summers in Manhattan stagehanding Shakespeare in the Park.

As the house below begins to fill up with theatregoers, Kee begins to shift uneasily in his seat. _Have you ever been to one of these things before?_ he whispers in Fee’s ear.

_Sure; lots of times._ In fact, Fee’s in his element. His parents made sure of it by dragging him along to countless opening nights, exposing him to everything from Pinter to Puccini to _Pictures At An Exhibition…_

Kee, however, feels distinctly out of place. Even though no one can see them in the deepest part of the box, he senses judging eyes. _Everyone’s dressed all fancy,_ he laments. _At least you look like you belong._

_Baby, don’t worry. You look great._

You _look better._

Both, in fact, look dangerously fine. Advised by Arkenstein to “clean up nice”, they’d spent the afternoon picking out decent clothes at the fanciest mall Kee had ever seen _._

_It had a fucking waterfall,_ he told Ori afterwards. _Indoors! And a Christmas tree ten stories high. I mean, it went up two levels, almost to the skylight. And we saw a shop that sold nothing but candy apples with all different things stuck to them!_

He leaves out the part where Fee bought him one. Twenty-three years old and never had a candy apple! Shiny red and rolled in coconut flakes, it tasted sweet, sticky, utterly decadent. One more new appetite awakened since he fell in with Fee…

Neither man had purchased new togs for years, so the process of roving through racks and flicking through hangers was mighty awkward for both of them. But judging from all the wolf whistles they received from their colleagues, they must have done pretty well for themselves—Fee especially.

_Little bastard wears the_ hell _out of a suit,_ muttered Tori. But then she looks pretty swell herself, decked out in a blue-bronze taffeta wiggle dress she found in a vintage shop in Philly.

_Are we supposed to do anything special?_ Kee persists. Among his mother’s people, there are no such things as audiences. If you’re not dancing, you’re singing; if not singing, you’re playing guitar; if not playing, you’re clapping and calling out encouragements. Only outsiders do nothing but watch— and Kee is an outsider now.

_Oh, baby._ Fee laces his fingers into his lover’s. _You sit, watch, listen, clap when everyone else claps—that’s all. And afterwards, if you’ve been good –_ he keeps his tone casual and even – _you get a treat, like I promised._

No one looking at the tall, dark, fierce-faced young man can imagine the wild flutters in his belly just now.

Behind them, the door swings open, and Tori sits up very, very, VERY straight. _Hey, Bud!_ she chirps.

Nicknames run rampant among circus folk, extending even to relatives outside the tent. Greenleaf calls his errant, flighty son _Junior_ , and most people follow suit— even Arkenstein, when he isn’t calling the kid _That Pup_. 

But no one except Tori calls Junior “Bud”. _You know, like on a tree?_ she once tried to explain. _A bud off the old branch? Turns into a green leaf?_

_Only when it grows up_ , replied Bill.

Edging his skinny ass through the doorway, Junior now claims the seat Tori’s been saving for him and throws a smattering of _hullo’s_ all around.

_Bon soir, Monsieur,_ says Barry, only he pronounces it _bon-sewer-mon-sewer_ with the same smirk he’s been taunting Junior with for years. For his part, Dwayne only grunts.

None of this tarnishes Junior’s good mood. Tonight’s his debut as a theatrical set designer, and he’s ready to take on the world—or at least his father, insofar as their opinions on lilac diverge. As for the circus’ other co-owner, Junior’s always idolized Big Man and hopes tonight to win his favor through the magic of stage design.

_I’m very happy to have the opportunity to show you my work, Mr. Arkenstein,_ he intones in earnest. _I hope you like what you see._

Fee whispers something to Kee, who audibly snorts.

Junior glances over, and his face suddenly turns stony. _Where’s Goosey?_ he asks. This is his subtle way of saying, _I don’t recall Doctor Lonesome being on the guest list._

Greenleaf (himself a grandmaster at the ancient art of signifying) smoothly retorts, _Indisposed, sadly. Touch of the old lumbago. So I offered Fee his seat… plus one, naturally._

Junior’s pretty brow creases with displeasure. Fee’s never done anything to him, of course, but that’s the problem, isn’t it? When someone sleeps with _literally everyone_ except you, it’s hard not to take it personally. But Fee has two ironclad rules he’s never broken. One: never fuck the boss. Two: never fuck the boss’ twenty-two-year-old prodigal son. And Fee’s willpower (though admittedly spotty in other areas) has always been stronger than Junior’s pleading puppy-dog eyes. 

As for Kee, he’s got Junior pegged for a major asshole and is ready to take it outside, if need be. But Tori saves the day, touching Junior’s wrist to distract him. 

_Bud, let me introduce Kee— and of course you remember Kee’s old man._

This is no insult. Tori’s simply indicating that Fee’s taken—though to be frank, there’s a bit of delicate homage being paid to both age difference and role dynamics. After all, _old man_ is what some call their fathers. Fee’s no one’s father. But he _is_ somebody’s daddy.

Understood or not, Tori’s quick thinking appears to defuse the situation. Resigned, Junior nods at Fee and Kee, and everyone stands down just as the house lights dim.

Curtains-up is the test. Again, Bill instinctively lays a hand on his husband’s arm. This isn’t an audience participation show, after all; only the actors should make a scene. Luckily, Arkenstein does not hurl himself from the lip of the balcony at first glance. Both of Greenleaf’s eyebrows raise – only one would be bad news – and Dwayne and Barry throw one another a look of grudging consideration.

But Fee and Kee scarcely spare a glance at fair Verona, where we lay our scene. Heads tipped together, they see the colored stage lights only through a blur of love and lust.

Somewhere around the balcony scene (which involves no balcony, by the way; instead, Juliet’s an aerial performer suspended from a beribboned silver hoop) Kee turns his face so that his nose brushes Fee’s stubbled cheek.

_Talk to me about the treat,_ he whispers.

Fee’s solar plexus fires up like a gas burner set on high—or maybe like the blazing dragonstaff that tonight’s Romeo whirls and twirls around his body as he speaks his honeyed lines.

_We’re only in act two._ Fee feigns an offhand tone that certainly does not match his current mood. _There’s five altogether. Plenty of time to think things up._

_But in general._ Kee nudges with his nose. _I’m bored. This story moves too slow._

His partner sighs in feigned exasperation, but he tips his jaw just slightly to tickle Kee’s lips with his beard. 

_Keep your eyes on the stage and look wildly interested,_ he instructs.

Quivering with eagerness, Kee obeys.

Fee’s quiet for a several minutes. Then – so low, it’s barely more than the sound of his lips and tongue making the shapes of words – he says, _When we get back to the hotel, I’m going to undo you. First your nice new clothes, and then you, a little at a time. I think I’ll have you put your hands against the wall to keep them out of the way while I work on you. If you think this play moves slow, wait until you see me._ A happy thought occurs to him. _Wait! Forget the wall— I want your hands on the bureau mirror, so you can watch what’s happening…_

The tiniest, tiniest _Nnh!_ breaks loose from Kee’s throat.

Meanwhile, one row up, Barry tells Dwayne sotto voce, _I like the costumes_. _Who’s down in the program for wrangling threads?_

_Junior, I think. Believe it or not._

_Well, that’s good. We won’t have to hire a second person._

Tori squeezes Junior’s hand, which she’s been holding for the last act and a half. _It’s awesome,_ she smiles.

_You really, honestly think so?_

_I don’t think; I_ know.

_I guess I’ll be forced to tell That Pup the truth,_ Arkenstein grumbles under his breath to Bill.

_Which is…?_

_That I misjudged his abilities. And, I guess, his taste._

From the back of the box: _…and then I’ll lay you down…_

_O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied,_ implores Romeo onstage.

Juliet executes a neat fish dive within her hoop, hanging on with one hand while she reaches out to her lover with the other. _What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?_

_Love me,_ breathes desperate Kee.

Romeo manages to touch the very tips of his fingers to Juliet’s. _The exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine._

_Later, baby,_ Fee raggedly responds.

_Hey, you in the peanut gallery, quit your lovey-dovin’,_ Arkenstein hisses. _Some of us are watching a play here._

Before Arkenstein can get another word out, Fee turns and tells Kee, _I gave thee mine before thou didst request it._ He kisses Kee rough and deep and lightning-swift. _And yet I would it were to give again,_ he concludes, only one step behind Juliet.


End file.
